While Professor Despang’s first semester approach allowed the students to select projects on their own, in his second semester he focused on three specific needs in Boone County: the need for a new community center in St. Edward; the need for a joint school/community performing arts center in Albion; and the need for a new grocery store/grocery warehouse in Petersburg.

Each student developed a design for each community, again focusing on sustainability, affordability and utilization of locally-available materials, giving the communities a number of options to choose from. As in the first semester, each student approached the projects with the benefits of new buildings to the community first and foremost in their plans.

At the end of the semester the students’ models were displayed in the lobby of the Wells Fargo bank building in downtown Lincoln. After a month there, the models were brought to Boone County where they were displayed locally and at the Boone County Fair.